1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to asphalt compositions and products, and to methods of making and using such compositions and products. In another aspect, the present invention relates to cutback asphalt compositions and products, and to methods of making and using such compositions and products. In even another aspect, the present invention relates to cutback asphalt compositions and products comprising an extender comprising renewable materials, and to methods of making and using such compositions and products. In still another aspect, the present invention relates to cutback asphalt compositions and products comprising an extender comprising tall oil based materials, and to methods of making and using such compositions and products. In yet another aspect, the present invention relates to cutback asphalt compositions and products comprising an extender comprising tall oil based materials and any other renewable material, and to methods of making and using such compositions and products.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Asphalt is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleum and in some natural deposits. In U.S. terminology, asphalt (or asphalt cement) is the carefully refined residue from the distillation process of selected crude oils. Outside North America, the product is called bitumen.
Asphalt binder is a key ingredient in pavements, roofing and waterproofing applications. The primary use of asphalt is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder for the aggregate particles, and accounts for approximately 80% of the asphalt consumed in the United States. The most common type of flexible pavement surfacing in the United States is hot mix asphalt (HMA) that may also be known by many different names such as hot mix, asphalt concrete (AC or ACP), asphalt, blacktop or bitumen.
Increasingly, the supply of asphalt binder is becoming heavier and more viscous and this poses some substantial challenges for end users. Therefore there is an increasing need for asphalt viscosity cutters to make the applications more feasible. Two common sources of viscosity reducers are petroleum oils and waxes of various types including Fischer-Tropsch waxes, Polyethylene waxes, Montan Waxes, etc.
A cutback asphalt is a combination of asphalt cement and petroleum solvent. The petroleum solvent reduces that viscosity of the resulting cutback asphalt. Cutbacks are used because their viscosity is lower than that of neat asphalt and can thus be used in low temperature applications. After a cutback is applied the solvent evaporates away and only the asphalt cement is left. A cutback asphalt is said to “cure” as the petroleum solvent evaporates away. Cutback asphalts are typically used as prime coats and tack coats.
When used as a prime coat, the cutback asphalt is a sprayed application applied to the surface of untreated subgrade or base layers in order to fill the surface voids and protect the subbase from weather; stabilize the fines and preserve the subbase material; and/or promote bonding to the subsequent pavement layers.
When used as a tack coat, the cutback asphalt is applied between hot mix asphalt pavement lifts to promote adequate bonding. This cutback promoted adequate bonding between construction lifts and especially between the existing road surface and an overlay is critical in order for the completed pavement structure to behave as a single unit and provide adequate strength. If adjacent layers do not bond to one another they essentially behave as multiple independent thin layers—none of which are designed to accommodate the anticipated traffic-imposed bending stresses. Inadequate bonding between layers can result in delamination (debonding) followed by longitudinal wheel path cracking, fatigue cracking, potholes, and other distresses such as rutting that greatly reduce pavement life.
Asphalt binders are cut back with heavy petroleum oils to reduce viscosity for applications such as Reworked Asphalt Pavements (RAP) and known as RA Grades according to specific viscosity ranges. Traditionally, products such as Hydrolene from Sunoco Petroleum Refining and other aromatic, naphthenic and paraffinic oils are used for such applications. Such viscosity reducing petroleum oils are also used in asphalt applications for Roofing, Paving and Industrial applications and in combination with fillers and modifiers with the purpose of reducing the composite viscosity to improve workability, increase production processing line speeds and to increase levels of fillers used to improve the economics of the formulations.
However, while useful in such applications described above, cutback asphalts face economical and environmental concerns.
Economically, the uncertain and usually rising cost of petroleum solvents in many cases makes it expensive to utilize.
Environmentally, cutback asphalts contain volatile chemicals that evaporate into the atmosphere. A number of jurisdictions have banned cutback asphalts except for use at low temperatures found mostly in winter months. Another problem with cutback asphalts, especially the quick setting variety, is that the large amounts of petroleum hydrocarbon solvent added, and the volatility of the fractions used, create a fire hazard and subject workers, and those near the road, to exposure to toxic chemicals. These solvents have associated health hazards, especially with relation to the naphthenic and more so aromatic oils with the latter being classified as carcinogens through skin contact as well as vapor emissions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,067, issued May 18, 1976 to Takase, et al., discloses a novel granular asphalt that comprises granules having the size of from about 0.074 to about 10 mm and being in the shape of a polyhedron having at least one acute angle. The granular asphalt has excellent properties. In particular, it can be melted rapidly and easily with small thermal capacity and slight heating, without causing thermal decomposition, denaturing and air pollution. The granular asphalt is useful, for example, for producing asphalt compound, cutback asphalt, rubberized asphalt, etc., for use in water-proofing, paving, sealing, etc., and for making asphalt block, asphalt tile, asphalt roofing, tarpaulin paper, flooring sheet, paint and varnish, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,823, issued Jul. 7, 1987, to Jabloner, discloses spurted polyolefin fibers with improved dispersibility in hydrocarbons, which pulp can be added to cutback asphalt to form viscous compositions that can be readily sprayed, brushed and troweled with minimal pulp separation problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,494, issued Aug. 10, 1993, to Sawatzky, et al., discloses a novel asphaltic composition that consists of comminuted aged asphaltic pavement material and an effective amount, from about 2% to about 15% by weight of a blend of a soft asphalt cement, a conventional asphalt cement, or a cutback asphalt, with a nitrogen-containing, adhesion-improving, anti-stripping agent comprising a sewage sludge-derived oil, or a fraction thereof, the sewage sludge-derived oil comprising a mixture of saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons, monoaromatic hydrocarbons, diaromatic hydrocarbons, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, polar compounds and basic, pyridene-soluble compounds, having the following elemental chemical composition: nitrogen, about 3.4% to about 5% by weight; oxygen, about 5.8% to about 6.9% by weight; sulfur, about 0.3% to about 0.8% by weight; hydrogen, about 9.7% to about 10.4%, and carbon, about 76.9% to about 79.8%.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,764,542, issued Jul. 20, 2004, to Lackey, et al., discloses a biodiesel cutback asphalt and asphalt emulsion. Cutback is mixed with a sufficient amount of biodiesel to reduce the viscosity of the asphalt, producing, e.g., a cold patch material that is free of added liquid petroleum. An asphalt emulsion of fine particles of asphalt, water and, preferably, an emulsifier, can be formed which is free of added liquid petroleum.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,858,315, issued Feb. 22, 2005, to Khan, et al., discloses a low VOC asphalt primer that comprises between about 0.8 and about 45 wt. % of a halobenzotrifluoride and between about 55 and about 92 wt. % of liquid cutback asphalt normally employed in building construction and road paving and having a VOC below 200 g/l.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,987,207, issued Jan. 17, 2006, to Ronyak, discloses a hydrocarbonaceous composition comprising: (A) an odor-emitting hydrocarbonaceous material; and (B) an odor-suppressing amount of an additive composition comprising soy methyl ester, at least one aldehyde and/or at least one ketone, and at least one carboxylic acid ester in addition to the soy methyl ester. Ronyad discloses asphalt compositions for preparing seal coats that may be applied as a hot asphalt, cutback asphalt or emulsified asphalt.
All of the patents, publications, articles and/or materials cited in this specification, are herein incorporated by reference.
However, in spite of the above advancements, there still exists a need in the art for asphalt compositions and products, and to methods of making and using such compositions and products.
There exists another need in the art for cutback asphalt compositions and products comprising extenders comprising renewable materials, and to methods of making and using such compositions and products.
There exists even another need in the art for provide cutback asphalt compositions and products comprising extender comprising tall oil based materials, and to methods of making and using such compositions and products.
These and other needs in the art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon review of this specification, including its drawings and claims.